Stocks Open '09 With Rally

Corporate news domestically was on the light side. In its first order of business in the new year, Bank of America(BAC Quote) said Thursday it completed its purchase of Merrill Lynch, while Wells Fargo(WFC Quote) wrapped up its acquisition of Wachovia. Bank of America tacked on 1.8% to $14.33 and Wells Fargo added 1.8% to $30 on Friday.

Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable(TWC Quote) and Viacom(VIA Quote) resolved disagreements over fee hikes and reached an agreement early Thursday.

Time Warner garnered 3.6% to $22.22, while Viacom advanced 5.1% to $21.15. The companies had previously threatened to cut off 19 channels at midnight for roughly 15.7 million subscribers if they couldn't come to terms.

Elsewhere, auto-parts supplier Visteon (VC Quote) said it would lower costs by moving some workers to a four-day week and cutting their pay by 20%. Shares were unchanged at 35 cents.

GM and its financing arm GMAC said Friday that they have restructured their agreement to give GM more leeway as to how it structures and raises consumer loans. The move allows GM to use third-party lenders, creating access to cheap money for more incentives and satisfying GMAC's alteration into a bank holding company.

Earlier in the week, the Treasury Department gave the automaker the first $4 billion of a promised $13.4 billion in funding from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and said it would inject $5 billion into GMAC in return for preferred shares and warrants.

In commodities, oil rose $1.74 to settle at $46.34 a barrel. Gold lost $4.70 to settle at $879.50. The dollar was stronger against the euro, pound and yen.